Stardust
by Valerie Vancollie
Summary: An ordinary barbeque leads to a discussion about Don's career which causes his family, team and friends to realize something he has tried to keep hidden from them. NOT connected to the movie of the same name.
1. Time

_**Stardust: Time**_

_**by Valerie Vancollie**_

**valeriev84 at hotmail dot com  


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**Characters:** Alan, Megan, David, Colby, Charlie, Amita, Larry, Don

**Notes:** 1) This fic was written to table 1 of the _Episodes and Incidents_ Live Journal community. Therefore it will be written in 50 parts (one part per word prompt), each of which will be a single complete 'scene/segment/incident/whatever.' I chose Don as my claim and Table 1 (see my _Numb3rs_ website) as my prompt table.  
2) This is an experimental fic in that it is a fantasy/sci-fi _Numb3rs_ fic. It was partially inspired by the _Stargate_ universe, though you need not have seen the movie and/or TV shows to follow it as it is **NOT** a crossover.  
3) This story is in no way connected to the movie _Stardust_. I had the title for this fic decided before the movie came out and before I'd heard of it. When I did learn of it, I considered altering the title, but decided not too as I liked it too much as it really ties in with the plot itself.  
4) This fic will, in all likelihood, become AU pretty quickly. It was first posted after _Power_.  
5) I'm pinning Don's age as 38, as Charlie was coming up on 30 in the pilot and Don is five years old. 30 + 5 35, and another 3 for each year since season 1.

**Spoilers:** _Pilot_, _Vector_, _Counterfeit Reality_, _Identity Crisis_, _Man Hunt_, _Protest_, _Longshot_, _Blackout_, _Money for Nothing_, _The Janus List_, _Trust Metric_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the _Numb3rs_ characters, items or situations. I only lay claim to the original aspects of the fic.

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**Present: Day 0**

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"Megan," Alan said in surprise as he opened the door. "David, Colby."

"Did we get the time wrong?" Megan asked, confused. "I could have sworn Don said five o'clock."

"No, no, I did tell him five," Alan replied, motioning for them to enter. "But when he called an hour ago, he said something had come up and you'd be late. At least I thought he was speaking for all of you."

"No," David said. "We were lucky and haven't been called in today."

"Do you think something came up?" Colby inquired with a frown. "I'd hate to be called away now; I'm starving."

"No, I'm sure Don would have let us know by now if we were needed," Megan responded, her brow furrowing.

"It could have been something else," Alan stated as he closed the door. "Now that I think about it, he didn't mention any of you, I just assumed it applied to the entire team. Anyway, come out back, Charlie and Larry were just talking about firing up the barbeque."

"Uh, oh," Colby intoned, following Alan into the kitchen. "Is it a good idea to leave that to them?"

"No," Alan declared simply with a smile. "I take it Don told you about the last time?"

"Yes, he did," David replied, placing the bottle of wine he'd brought on a counter before stepping outside. "Hey guys."

"You're here," Charlie blinked. "I thought you were going to be late."

"They have no idea what the phone call was about," Alan informed his youngest, inspecting his setup of the barbeque.

"I hate it when he does that!" Charlie declared fiercely as he put the barbeque tongs down with more force than necessary.

"When he does what?" Megan asked, turning away from Larry whom she'd greeted.

"When he doesn't explain what he's doing or merely gives us the most basic facts. He's always doing it!"

"I'm sure it wasn't intentional," David said.

"I'm not," Charlie retorted. "Did you know that I never knew Don worked Fugitive Recovery until Cooper showed up here? Or that he'd ever lived together with one of his girlfriends, let alone that he was engaged at one point, until Kim told me during the counterfeiting case?"

"That was before, Charlie," Alan stated. "Back when the two of you weren't as close."

"He didn't tell us that he and Robin broke up until over a week after it happened," Charlie countered. "And the only reason he did that was because we were asking him about his behavior with Liz. How do we know he won't be selective in what he tells us now? Besides, close or not, an engagement is something important enough to tell a brother about!"

"It's true that Don doesn't talk much about himself or what he's done," David agreed, hoping to calm Charlie. "I worked with him for over two years before I learned that he'd been an instructor at the Academy."

"Wait, Don taught?" Amita questioned even as Charlie seemed at a loss for words, caught between shock and anger.

"Yes, he was a tactical instructor," Colby confirmed. "Liz was one of his students."

"It was just after Fugitive Recovery, Charlie," Alan quickly supplied. "About ten years ago, back when you two weren't communicating unless you were both home at the same time."

"Back when," David echoed, puzzled as he put down the beer he'd started. "No... I don't mean to sound rude, but, well, Liz told me she'd only been with the FBI for four years and since Don was her teacher, he couldn't have taught that long ago."

"He probably had Liz during his second teaching stint," Megan replied.

"Second teaching stint?" Alan repeated. "Don never went back to teaching. He did it just the once, right after Fugitive Recovery and before New Mexico."

"What? But Don told me he'd taught again during the time he wasn't at Albuquerque."

"What do you mean, the time he wasn't at Albuquerque?"

"One of my friends from Quantico was stationed in New Mexico for a few years during the time Don was there and she told me about him when I told her he was going to be my boss," Megan explained. "One of the things she said was that, about a year after he arrived, he left for a while before he suddenly reappeared and began his rapid climb through the ranks."

"No, that's wrong," Alan stated. "She must have been mistaken. Don was in Albuquerque for five full years."

"He lied," Charlie whispered, his voice a maelstrom of emotions.

"Maybe not," Amita said, hesitantly.

"Either he lied or he didn't," Charlie replied forcefully. "Megan and Dad can't both be right."

"Only if Don ever told your father that he spent five years in Albuquerque," Amita explained. "From what you said earlier, a lot of the confusion about Don's past comes from the fact that he doesn't always mention things to people. Perhaps he simply never told your father that he left Albuquerque for a while?"

"No, that's not possible," Alan countered. "Although Don wasn't always good with keeping in touch with us even after he left Fugitive Recovery, his phone number never changed except when he and Kim moved to a new place together and his letters always came from New Mexico during that period."

"That issue aside, Liz told me that when Don was her teacher, he was fresh from Fugitive Recovery," Colby interjected. "So things wouldn't add up even if what Don told Megan was true."

"Not to mention the fact that Liz's statement of being with the FBI for four years doesn't make sense either," David added.

"Why can't Don ever just speak to us? Let us know what is going on in his life?" Charlie demanded angrily. "Why am I always finding out things about my brother from other people or by accident?"

"Don is a very private person," Larry stated thoughtfully, having merely watched the growing frustration for a while. "He is a lot like a black hole in many aspects."

"A black hole?" Colby demanded incredulously. "Don't those things simply suck in everything around them?"

"No, that is a common misconception," Larry corrected, the closed fist that had been resting against his temple moving away so that he could make his point clearer with his forefinger. "A black hole merely sucks up material that has passed its event horizon. It only manages to do that for half of the material gravitating towards it. The other half gets jettisoned away from it. Anyway, that was not the point I was trying to make. What I meant was that although we know of the existence of black holes, we cannot directly observe them. They are invisible to us as they trap light itself at the event horizon. Hence we can only know a black hole is present by observing the effect it has on its surroundings."

"Don's actions speak far louder than anything he normally says," Megan agreed, nodding and smiling at her boyfriend. "Especially when he doesn't want you to know what he's thinking."

"Don, a black hole?" Colby merely reiterated.

"It's a metaphor, man," David stated.

"I don't believe this," Alan declared, his face thunderous. "I thought we were past all of these secrets and deliberate omissions! This is starting to feel like Don's Fugitive Recovery days all over again."

"Huh," Larry commented. "Don even manages to imitate a form of gravitational time dilation, only with reality. Instead of time distorting when it gets near him, the very fabric of what is seems to waver and distort, leaving different people with different interpretations of what is."

"Perhaps we should start at the beginning?" Amita suggested, seeing how the agents' postures had stiffened slightly. Don was their boss. "See if we can't work this out? What did Don do right after college?"

"He joined the Stockton Rangers," Charlie replied tersely. "He was with them for two and a half years. At least as far as I know."

"It was two and half years," Alan confirmed. "Then he went to Quantico, after which he was assigned to Fugitive Recovery for two years."

"Though I suppose it is a good thing Don doesn't cause spaghettification in people," Larry continued.

"What?" Colby uttered, confusion written all over his face. "Spaghetti-_fication_?"

"Mmm, it's what happens to objects near a black hole."

"Which isn't relevant right now," Amita stated. "What happened next? Teaching?"

"Yes," Alan replied. "He did that for another two years before New Mexico."

"And he came to LA from there," Charlie finished.

"He's been back for nearly four and half years, right?" David asked.

"Yes."

"Does that fit with what everyone else knew?" Amita inquired.

"I've never heard it put in that order, but aside from Liz's claim, yes," David said.

"So it seems the confusion centers on Albuquerque," Megan concluded.

"Maybe we should leave this alone," Colby stated suddenly.

"Leave it alone?" Charlie demanded incredulously. "Give me one reason why we should."

"It's clear that there is something Don doesn't want us to know," Colby began. "And he's gone to some lengths to ensure that no one realizes it. He did it quite masterfully too, telling everyone little bits and pieces of information out of context, but no actual lies except for what happened in those five years before he came back to LA. He's just been letting people draw their own conclusions about what he has said."

"And that makes it okay, how?"

"I didn't say that it would make it any easier to accept, but given the effort he's put into the deception, my guess is that he's done it for some important reason," Colby explained. "It might not even be a voluntary decision. He might have been ordered to keep it quiet."

"Ordered?" Alan thundered, his expression growing even darker. "You're saying the FBI can order it's agents to lie to their family?"

"Alan," Megan began uncomfortably, glancing at her colleagues. "Colby wasn't allowed to inform his family of the truth when his cover was blown. Some operations require secrecy to be successful."

"Even after they're done?"

"Even then."

"Sounds like those operations involve violations of our laws and that you just don't want the people to know about it!" Alan retorted, ignoring the hurt expression on Megan's face. "Why else would you need to keep it quiet after the fact?"

"So that the tactic can be used in the future or to protect those involved," David replied.

"Protect?"

"Some criminals have far reaching contacts."

"Which is no excuse not to tell us about what happened," Charlie stated. "We're not going to let that information get out. Besides, I have clearance, Don should have told me."

"Just because you have high-level security clearance doesn't mean you can know everything," Colby responded.

"True, but since I have higher clearance than Don, I can be told about anything he has worked on," Charlie persisted.

"Charlie," Amita began, placing a soothing hand on his arm. "There may be a good reason why Don didn't tell you."

"Like what?"

"I don't know. You'd have to ask him."

"Oh, I definitely will be asking him."

"As will I," Alan declared.

"Perhaps you should wait a little before confronting Don," Megan suggested, attempting to defuse the situation. "Think it over a bit?"

"No, I think this situation has gone on long enough," Alan stated.

"Perhaps we should be going?" Larry asked, touching Megan's elbow. "I think this is something best left between the three of them."

"I'm not so sure," Colby whispered, not wanting to leave his boss alone to face his two infuriated relatives.

"What do you thi-" David began.

"What's this?" Don asked, inadvertently cutting the younger agent off as he rounded the corner of the house and walked into the backyard. "Here I thought you'd have eaten all the steaks and it looks like you haven't even started."

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**Please check out the Master List for this fic on my _Numb3rs_ website for the complete details about this story. I'd also love to know what you thought of this part, thanks!**


	2. Temper

_**Stardust: Temper**_

_**by Valerie Vancollie**_

**valeriev84 at hotmail dot com  


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**Characters:** Alan, Charlie, Don

**Notes:** 1) Please see my website for more details of this fic.  
2) I was _**stunned**_ by the response the first part of this fic got. Wow. I'm glad you guys liked it so much and I hope you continue to enjoy it as the story progresses. Thank you very much your responses, they are greatly appreciated!

**Spoilers:** _Vector_, _Protest_, _The Janus List_, _Trust Metric_

**Disclaimer:** I do not own any of the _Numb3rs_ characters, items or situations. I only lay claim to the original aspects of the fic.

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**Present: Day 0**

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Don waited on the front step and watched with trepidation as Colby got into his car.

Unlike the others, it had been difficult to convince the younger man to leave. Colby had wanted to stay and support him in the upcoming confrontation with his father and brother, but he had insisted he'd be okay. That he needed to handle this himself.

He was seriously reconsidering that assertion now.

It would be a lot easier with someone backing him up, even if Colby was probably dying to know the answers himself. Don sighed and checked the time as the car finally started and Colby pulled away from the house. He had been dreading this day since he had moved back to LA and grown closer to his family. In some ways it had been inevitable and he was surprised at how long he'd gotten away with keeping not only his family but his friends and colleagues in the dark.

Now that Granger was gone, Don knew that to linger on the doorstep would only increase the anger Charlie and his father already felt. Steeling himself, he turned around, entered the house and gently closed the door before facing his family.

Now that they finally had Don to themselves, it seemed Alan and Charlie didn't know where to begin. They simply stood there, glaring at him. The enraged accusations and demands from earlier that had alerted him to their discovery were conspicuously absent.

"Well, that barbeque went well," Don stated, wanting to get the whole confrontation over with as soon as possible. "We should do it again sometime."

"Went well?!" Charlie sputtered, his hands clenching into fists. "What... How...!"

"What was this Megan mentioned about you being in Albuquerque twice? Did you leave to go work somewhere else?" Alan demanded stalking towards his eldest and staring at him.

"Yes."

"Yes? Yes! You admit it, just like that?"

"Yes."

"What, no more lies?" Charlie snapped from where he stood.

"I never lied to you about this," Don declared as he turned his attention towards his younger brother.

"Then what did you do?"

"I merely omitted certain things. Never mentioned them to begin with."

"Oh, I see, '_omitted_,'" Charlie fumed, pacing closer to stand beside their father. "Is that an official term?"

"Charlie," Don sighed. "You of all people should know that there are things I can't talk about."

"I have clearance!"

"Which I didn't know at the time."

"But you do now and have known for over three years. You could have told me since then."

"There are different types of clearance."

"I know that! There's low-level clearance like yours and high-level clearance like mine," Charlie shot back, for once throwing his superior government access into his brother's face.

"Just because you have high-level clearance doesn't mean that you can know about every project with that clearance level just because you want to," Don replied, doing his best to reign in his rising own temper.

This situation would go from bad to worse real fast if he started getting angry too.

"What did you do when you weren't in Albuquerque?" Alan cut in.

"Dad," Don began, closing his eyes briefly. "I can't tell you."

"Why not?"

"Because it's classified."

"Did you break any laws?"

"What? No!" Don exclaimed, stunned. "What makes you think that?"

"The secrecy. If you weren't embarrassed about the damage it could do to your precious Bureau, why not be honest about what you were doing?"

"There are a lot of reasons why certain operations are kept secret."

"Yeah, like the public outcry over those methods the CIA used to 'question' people," Alan retorted, the sarcasm fairly dripping from the words.

Don could only stare at his father, hurt at both his views and the apparent ease with which his father seemed to be able to accuse him of being involved in something both so blatantly illegal and against everything he stood for.

"Not to mention the fact that you refuse to tell your brother what you did."

"I can't," Don said, forcing down his feelings to ensure that his voice came out steady. He faced down hardened criminals almost daily, he could maintain a calm faade now. While he was at it, he made his face obey him and settled it into an indifferent expression. Or at least as close to indifferent as he could achieve; he knew it wasn't perfect.

"Why not?" Charlie demanded, his eyes shooting sparks. "I am an official FBI consultant!"

Briefly Don looked at his brother, absently realizing that he had never seen him quite so angry before, at least not at him. Although even when he included the times he'd been infuriated at other people, it was still a close call.

What to say?

Don closed his eyes as he pondered the answer. He could either give a vague answer and allow them to draw their own conclusions from it, thus continuing the cycle that had started seven and a half years ago when he had not told his parents about his new assignment, or he could come clean. The problem with the latter choice was the same one that had kept him quiet all those years ago. Only it wasn't the same problem as back then. Then he had been able to keep quiet about it with no ill effects. Now, now his father was already beyond furious with him, it wasn't like he could really get any more furious... was it?

In for a penny, in for-

"What, no excuse?" Charlie practically snarled.

"It wasn't the FBI," Don whispered almost reluctantly, thinking as the words left his lips that he was going to regret this.

"What?" Alan commanded, eyes narrowing suspiciously.

"I wasn't working for the FBI at that time," Don reiterated, closely observing the two of them.

"Not working for the FBI," Charlie repeated dumbly, clearly thrown.

"And who exactly were you working for then?" Alan inquired, his tone taking on a dangerous edge.

"The- the military," Don confessed.

"What?!" Alan thundered after a moment of stunned silence. "You _JOINED_ the MILITARY?!"

"No, I-"

"You just said you did."

"No, I said I-"

"What branch?" Charlie questioned, his face still shocked though some anger was clearly leaking back into his voice.

"I don't care what branch it was!" Alan shouted, his face turning an alarming red hue. "After everything your mother and I taught you and raised you to stand for, you went and joined the military?"

"I didn't join the military," Don stated, his voice raised so as to be heard.

"You said-"

"That I was working _for_ the military, not that I joined them. My official status was that of a consultant."

"Consultant?" Charlie asked in disbelief. "You? Consulting on what?"

"What did you do for them?" Alan demanded, stepping forwards and grabbing his eldest's arms. "What did you work on?"

"I can't tell you," Don repeated, pulling his arms free, stunned at his father's actions even as his own anger rose at the treatment.

"Your mother would be rolling in her grave if she knew! How dare you disrespect us so?"

"Hey! That's not fair!" Don exclaimed, hurt lancing through him even as his mask crumbled and his own anger escaped his control. "You know nothing of what I did or whether or not I did anything you would disapprove of."

"Because you won't tell me! And knowing you worked for the military is all I need to know!"

"How long did you work for them?" Charlie cut in.

"What? About a year and a half."

"About?"

"It was probably a little longer. Besides, there was some overlap between my work for them and my rejoining the FBI."

"Where were you at that time?"

"I can't say."

"Your letters came from Albuquerque," Alan snapped.

"Yes, the Navy redirected them for me."

"Redirected them. And you claim to not have lied to anyone."

"No, I said I hadn't lied to you about what I did then. And I never did."

"But you lied to Megan," Charlie declared. "You told her you were teaching when you were with the Navy."

"Yes," Don agreed regretfully. "She, unfortunately, knew that I hadn't been in Albuquerque and asked me what I had done. There was no way I could avoid the question, not without making her suspicious."

"So you can't tell them what you did either?"

"Charlie, what part of classified do you not understand?" Don snapped, finally at the end of his patience. Besides, it was easier to hide his hurt if he released his anger.

Couldn't they simply understand that he wasn't allowed to talk about it? That he was forbidden from discussing what he did during that time? Did they trust him so little that they couldn't take his word for it? That they had to assume the worst of him? Yes, he knew Charlie felt left out of most of his life and that his father distrusted all aspects of the government dealing with law enforcement or military, but he was family. They knew him and what he stood for if not everything that he had done. Wasn't that enough? It had been for Fitzgerald's family.

And for Colby's.

Despite the fact that the younger agent had been unable to tell his family the truth about his assignment, they had stuck with him. At least in spirit. They'd acted upset, angry and betrayed, but they had secretly believed in him and hoped that what they'd been told about him wasn't true. The Grangers understood duty and responsibility; understood what it meant to serve their country and all the sacrifices that went with it. They understood classified and need-to-know. They'd hoped Colby was involved in some top-secret project which they weren't authorized to know about.

They were steeped in the knowledge and experience of five generations of duty and honor.

"I have higher clearance than you!" Charlie persisted, his voice hardly more than an angry hiss.

'_No, you don't!_' Don snarked back mentally though he kept the knowledge to himself. It was obvious he had already revealed too much. No need to add more fuel to the fire.

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**If you like some of my other fics, please check out my site as 7 of my _Numb3rs_ fics have been nominated and voting is taking place until the 15th of April (2008)! Thank you to anyone who nominated me, I'm honored.**


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